Live video chat at noon today
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 12, 2009 
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The Subway Series is upon us the next LoHud Yankees Blog live video chat will be today at noon.
Go to our Pro Talk Live page and get your questions answered. Hope to see you there.
The chat is sponsored by Friedrich Air Conditioning.
Just when I was starting to believe Joe G was going to do ok, not great mind you, but okay he folds in this series. I am having a hard time understanding his moves, lack of moves and sheer lack of passion.
1. Question starting Gardner against Beckett & Matsui against Wakefield. (Seems backwards.) Wakefield is more likely to walk a hitter than Beckett walking Gardner. Also, why wasn’t Posada’s bat in against Penny as a DH?
2. Using Gardner as a PR and not having him steal 2B. Sacrifice bunt to move him to 2nd. That was stupid! Maybe a sacrifice to move him to 3rd, but if blazes can’t steal 2nd we didn’t deserve to win.
3. When Wang Pitched and the NYY players were having a hard time with Balls & Strikes, he should have argued and gotten tossed to make a point of how the Ump was an embarrasment. Joe G sat meekly!
4. When ARod was hit in the 1st inning Joe G should have argued with the Ump to get Penny tossed. Everyone knew it was intentional. The umps should have been made to listen and Joe G should have displayed the corse of action he wanted. Maybe he should have put a pinch pitcher in to throw at Youk. So what if he gets tossed. I hate his roll over mentality.
5. There is no way CC should have started the eighth inning. And certainly no way to pitch past the 10 pitch AB by Peds. If Joe G didn’t have the guts to go with Mo after his blunder of leaving a gassed CC out there, then he said he was just a figure head reading someone elses book. Aceves would have done better to start an inning. Still might have lost, but you need to put him in a spot to have a chance for success.
6. Wed night Joe G used a Pena as a PR for ARod to steal a base. He took one of his best hitters out of the lineup trying to tie a game on the road. ARod could have stolen the base like he did a night earlier and still have his bat.
7. I liked the fake bunt/hit and run. I’ll give him some credit for that. I believe that was the only hit & run in the series from an NL manager who likes to run. BTW, if Varitek is catching every Yankee that can steal a base needs to be running. Jeter, ARod, Melky, Cano, etc.
8. I stated earlier this year that Joe G would be fired by AS Break. I thought recently that was not an option anymore. I believe Joe G has brought this back into play. A similar series with the Mets and all bets are off as far as Joe G remaining for a full season and maybe even the AS break.
9. Panic! Leaders don’t do this. We have gone from 13 pitchers w/o a long man to a 12 pitchers w/o a setup. No one knows there roles beyond their last outing. (Except Mo and even that changes.) A manager has to prepare his team to win. It is the little things that do that. Making a decision and being consistent. Proping up a player when needed.
Does anyone else think that the W.B. Mason guy and John Flaherty were twins separated at birth?
I was going to vent about Girardi’s stupid but conventional use of his bullpen last night, but I see that I am way late to that party and have been beaten to the punch by folks like CB, Patrick, Ms Kekich, RayVT and others. But I will vent anyway.
The notion of saving your best relief pitcher for a very limited, statistically defined point in a game is hopefully a momentary madness to which baseball has fallen prey, one which the repeated application of negative reinforcement – i.e., losses, will cure.
Last night was a perfect example. Of course, in any sane world, you would bring your best relief pitcher in the eighth to face Youlilis.
Let us assume that, in the ninth, it is difficult to prevent runs. I’m not sure I really believe that, but let us assume it to be true.
No matter how difficult the ninth inning is to pitch, it must be easier to prevent a team from scoring when there are none on and none out (the first batter in the bottom of the ninth) than when there are two on and none out (the situation in which Aceves found himself). It must be even easier to prevent runs scoring when you aren’t facing Youlilis and then Bay and then Lowell.
So we have established (at least to the sane) that the job of preventing runs in the eighth, with 2 on, none out, and Youkilis, Bay and Lowell coming up, is a harder job than preventing runs in the ninth, with none on, and the bottom of the order to be faced, even though it is difficult to prevent runs in the ninth.
But wait, there’s more!
The Yanks have one – count them, one – great reliever on the team. He is by far the best reliever on the team, and he has proven by many years experience that he is very good at run prevention.
So what is a manager to do? Naturally, choose Aceves, because in the unlikely event he is able to get three outs before the Sox score a run, we need our best reliever to then do the easier job.
That way, in the doubly unlikely event that Aceves holds the lead in the eighth and Rivera blows it in the ninth, the manager can’t be blamed, and it avoids the further charge of ignoring convention and overlooking the difficulty of the ninth if you were to bring Rivera in to the eighth, he were to hold the lead, and Aceves were to blow the lead in the ninth.
But I don’t particularly blame Girardi, I don’t know if any manager has the guts to expose himself to the criticism of the ignorant by taking the unconventional route.
But some manager will, someday, and people will wonder why that manager wins so many games.
“Brandon, is Garcia on the DL again? Boy, some guys, like Horne, Sanchez, and Garcia, just can’t seem to get out of their own way. ”
Sanchez actually is healthy now and pitching in AA, Garcia and Horne, Horne I gave up on, Garcia I’m giving up on, BTW yes Mitre is better than Veras right now.
Ray: Tough to argue with your points. Without Jacoby in the lineup, Boston has no speed. It is a big advantage for the Yanks when they play head to head. Look at how teams like Tampa and the Angels play against the Sox. They run at every opportunity. What bothers me the most is the apparent uncertainty when making pitching decisions. You can see the guy squirming and pacing in the dugout. If I had a crappy pen to manage I might fidget a bit too, but he needs to look calm, confident and certain when making moves, even if he is not. How the Yankees could lost two run one games against their chief competition for the division and not use Mo is mind boggling. Maybe he could not have gone for 6 outs, but who knows? Maybe he could have gotten a few outs on the first or second pitch?
All Yankee fans need a day to vent. Hopefully the home bats come alive tonight and take the manager out of the equation.
Slade Heathcott, 18 yrs. old, if he ever becomes a star in NY
http://i43.tinypic.com/6h6blt.jpg
Yanks just lack any spark against this team. No matter what move Girardi makes it back fires. We can all second guess every move the Yanks made last night, but when it comes down to it we got beat. It inexplicable that they can’t push a run across when their 5th starter with an over 5.0 ERA pitches like Cy Young. Its also inexplicable how AJ impodes vs. Boston when he was lights out last year.
Something has got to change. We are all waiting on that moment. Truth be told, I’d rather have that moment at the end of the season. We had that moment in 04 with the Jeter diving into the stands game and we all know how that ended.
“All Yankee fans need a day to vent. Hopefully the home bats come alive tonight and take the manager out of the equation.”
Agreed, that’s what I don’t get. Last night was a tough loss and there are calls for being rational and thinking about the big picture. It’s sports, you’re passionate about it, and your team just got beat, again, for the 8th time, by your rival. Let people loose their cool and find their way back to sensibility.
I’m not cool with the unconventional use of the bullpen.
This lineup is thick top to bottom. Until last night, we’ve had a tough time taking care of the bottom third of the lineup, not the top & middle.
He should’ve trusted the bullpen for the 8th. That’s how you build up the confidence of the pen. Now they know the team has no confidence in them (of course it’s a valid concern). Panic moves are pathetic.
At the very least pull CC as soon as the first guy got on base. Before the walk to Pedroia.
Rob L -
Hey, they kinda do!
I don’t see an air-conditioner in that room you are broadcasting from…
RayVT, you’re spot on.
Wave Your Hat
chambliss
m
I couldn’t agree more. I do remember the old addage that you are never as bad as you look when you lose or as good as look when you win.
The lack of passion by the manager is what is stiffling to me. He is clearly in over his head. Only the shadow knows how long before changes are at hand in the Yankee management/coaches.
the chat really is sponsored. I thought he was joking!!